31/05/2008 by Arielle.

Like the rest of the British public, my sons and I have been hooked on ‘Has Britain Got Talent’. Our favourite (and she makes me cry each time I watch her) has been Gin and Kate.

I think Gin is just incredible and the bond between her and Kate is wonderful to watch. What a stress being Gin’s vet if anything was to happen to her!! Good luck Gin!

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28/05/2008 by Arielle.

It is half term and we are looking after my friends guinea pigs while they are away (Harry and Cucumber). They belong to her 2 young children. My daughters are thrilled and it has made their half term.

I find it quite stressful as their last guinea pigs were eaten by a fox - thankfully not in our care!

We received a postcard today from the Isle of Wight saying - ‘We hop you are loking after the ginee pigs and they are not ded’ - pressure!!

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24/05/2008 by Arielle.

Tommy came in today for his routine vaccinations. He is such a lovely dog and appeared healthy but was a bit too fat. I ended the vaccinations (injection and Kennel Cough sprayed in his nose) by weighing him. The scales revealed that he had put on 4 kgs in only about 4 months.

I was concerned as he is so healthy otherwise and gave his owner my usual advice about restricting the amount he eats, cutting out titbits and increasing his exercise.

She looked at me quietly and said that yes she knew all that and would try her best but her problem she suspected was her husband. He had been diagnosed with throat cancer and her suspicions were now clear. He had been feeding Tommy his food to avoid worrying his wife about not eating it himself. Tommy was obviously only too obliging.

This consultation left me thinking for a while as I felt very moved by the client and her ill husband and Tommy caught in the middle of it.

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19/05/2008 by Arielle.

The little kitten on my consulting room table did look very pretty and stripey. The ‘new parents’ had recently acquired her from a pet shop and given her the pretty name of Lilly.
After careful inspection and a health check, I could confirm that Lilly was in fact a little male kitten.
It happens to us very often and may happen to you, so I have written an article on how to sex kittens
I wonder what name Lilly will have when she next returns to us.

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11/05/2008 by Arielle.

How amazing to see Blackjack today. He was carried into my consulting room as he had had a minor stroke at home which resulted in him circling and then collapsing. Apart from a glazed distant look in his eyes, he was still amazingly well for his age.

We stood him on the floor and after a little wobble, his tail came up and he wagged to the door to go out. He had recovered nicely from the stroke so I sent him home with some Vivitonin tablets to prevent another one. How lucky they were to have their happy pet for so many years!

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10/05/2008 by Arielle.

 I have performed hundreds of euthanasias in my many years as a vet and they each touch me differently.

When a brother and sister brought in Max, their 15 year old Staffy to be put to sleep today, I seemed to feel their grief more than ever and I could not help but cry with them. Is that unprofessional?

I had a 6 hour long consulting session with no break today as a patient needed blood tests during my break and maybe I am just getting old, but I really felt the owner’s pain seeing their old pet that they had grown up with lifeless on the table.

Thankfully he had gone so peacefully and even licked the owners tears off his nose as I gave the lethal injection into his vein. It is exactly as they had wanted it. He was falling down stairs and they wanted him to go peacefully and be unaware of it all but the reality of it  made them both cry uncontrollably and I could not help myself but cried quietly too.

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07/05/2008 by Arielle.

We so often see albino small pets (especially rats and guinea pigs), but I had to share this picture with you that I have received from a friend in New Zealand - how beautiful he is - like a giant snowball!

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01/05/2008 by Arielle.

An owner came in today having used Advocate flea drop treatment on her German Shepherd Harley. He was in for his vaccination but she casually mentioned that she would probably flea him again as she had applied the expensive flea drops; taken him for a walk off lead along the river and he had dived in for a swim.

She asked when she could reapply the next treatment. I then told her off about this as Advocate (like many of the topical flea treatments), contain a substance that is highly poisonous to aquatic animals. It will kill fish.

 She felt very guilty and would not allow her dog to swim again in the river until at least 4 days after applying the flea drops. We all love our environment, including our pets, so let us keep it healthy.

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